The Orange Box Thread [Archive]

Nexus-7

10-09-2007, 12:57 AM

Half-Life 2 is one of my favorite games ever, so that's the way I rolled. I haven't played Episode 1 yet, and 2 sounds fantastic.

From what I've heard/seen/read of TF2, it seems awesome, and I love the art style(kind of Timesplitters-esque, but better realized and animated). I'm glad Valve went with that as their multiplayer portion as opposed to another Counter-Strike retread/remake/sequel.

Portal is amazing in concept, and I hope the portal gun makes it into Episode 3 in some capacity(that seems to be the word on the street). I can see this one causing me brain damage, but I'll probably be smiling the whole time.

I'll probably be getting this, and I don't even own a 360 yet, that's how great the whole package sounds.

Kiluhs

10-09-2007, 02:17 AM

Team Fortress 2 doesn't interest me since I've never seemed to enjoy online multiplayer games. Portal seems like a cool concept, but I'm skeptical about how long it will remain fun (how long can you really stay interested in figuring out how to move a box or something from Point A to Point B). I'll definitely give Portal a shot, though.

Half-Life 2 and Episode 1 are great games, though I've already played them. So really it's just Episode 2 that I'm excited about.

JuddL

10-09-2007, 02:40 AM

HL2 is once of the top 2 or 3 games I've ever played. Portal looks insane (are we going to see this weapon in HL3??!!!), and Team Fortress has me really intrigued. But I'll go with Portal.

stelios

10-09-2007, 02:54 AM

As much as I adore HL2 and Episode 1 and as much as Portal interests me I really think TF2 is going to be the most important and most played game of them all.

Michael Shaver

10-09-2007, 03:03 AM

Looking forward to Episodes 1 & 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2.

I'll play through HL2 again. I heard that much was lost from the translation from PC to XBOX.

Master Shake

10-09-2007, 03:55 AM

I'm renting the 360 version to make sure it's not filled with awful loading times like HL2 for Xbox was.

I'm really hoping that Team Fortress 2 doesn't turn out to be the next Unreal Championship 2 or Timesplitters 3, where some people play it for 2 weeks and then go right back to the Halo.

mongycore

10-09-2007, 03:59 AM

last time I checked TF2 had only six maps, right?

Brad Millette

10-09-2007, 07:48 AM

Rich Straceski

10-09-2007, 08:51 AM

I want to get this set eventually, but I'm going to wait a little bit at least. I've never finished Half Life 2 (because I am a fool) and I have it on the PC and I've played it on the Xbox. For what it's worth I think the Xbox version came together pretty well, in spite of it's flaws. The Orange Box is definitely a great value, even for a goofball like me who already owns the main game. Even if it was just Episoes 1 and 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal it would still be worthwhile. I want to make sure I'm in a place where I will actually play it when I get it, but who am I kidding, I'll probably end up getting it sooner rather than later. I'd liek to finishe Halo 3 first, and I still haven't even touched Bioshock(once again, bebause I am a fool).

My main dilemma here is which version of the game to pick up. The 360 seems like the best fit for me, but my brother in law would love it if I wait and get it for the PS3. I am wary of the delays the PS3 version is seeing however... It seems like there is a decent group here who will be playing together on the 360 and it would be cool to be part of that but it would also be nice to have another game to play with my brother in law on occasion (along with the handful of other PS3 owners in these parts, some of which may be in the same boat as me, and may be leaning towards the 360 version).

Oh well, I'll figure it out. What do you guys think? in the meantime I need to finishe some of my other games first!

edit: And as far as the poll goes, I'd love to be in it for Team Fortress 2, but I'm in the Half Life 2 camp... just voted. Team Fortress 2 looks awesome though. At first I wasn't too excited, but I see its potential now.

Beageal

10-09-2007, 09:37 AM

Half-Life edges out Portal for me. The Half-Life series does everything I love about games, and I really do like the idea of episodic gaming (though they gotta do something about the wait between entries). Episode 1 was great; Episode 2 has been my most-anticipated game since I got through 1.

That said, Portal seems wicked, and all the little tidbits I've heard about it beyond the basic concept -- that it does take place in the Half-Life universe, that that voice actually has character development -- really has me curious. And the basic portal concept itself is of course great -- anybody else played Narbacular Drop (http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/narbaculardrop.html)? It's a short little freebee using the same portal concept with a much older 3d technology. It's what the folks Valve brought aboard to make Portal did to earn that hire.

As for TF2 ... not really interested. Multiplayer fragging isn't my game, whether I be pwning the n00bs or the n00b being pwned. Multiplayer co-op appeals to me, so Left 4 Dead, as of midnight tonight when Steam unlocks my pre-loads, becomes my most anticipated game.

Can you add a secondary poll? Find out what system everybody's picking it up for (me: PC).

Gist

10-09-2007, 11:36 AM

Count me in the 360 camp. I'm looking forward to Team Fortress 2 the most, despite having never played the original. The art, design and animation looks so goddamn enjoyable, and I dig the class-based alternative to mindless fragging. I hope we get a decent 360 TF2 community going, because I can definitely see myself playing this a ton more than Halo 3.

Trevor

10-09-2007, 11:44 AM

I love Half Life just as much as the next nerd, but I'm more excited about trying out Portal than I am about Episode 2. I'm also back in the 360 camp for the next year or so until I can build a new computer.

Spike Marshall

10-09-2007, 12:14 PM

This doesn't get released here until the 19th, which makes me a sad panda. I'm kinda looking forward to playing Half Life 2 for the first time (don't stone me), but the stuff I've heard from people in the know about Portal has made that my main priority. Also TF2 is going to replace Halo 3 as my Multiplayer Kick, although the week and a half disparity between the US and UK launch has me very worried about getting my arse kicked from the first day.

Brad Millette

10-09-2007, 12:19 PM

FYI, new TF2 character movie here. (http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1&product_id=200198)

Odd that it's on the Gamespot site, but it's still hilarious. Next one they're working on is "Meet the Sniper".

mongycore

10-09-2007, 12:19 PM

At the moment, only six. Two of them are much larger, and split up into three or four submaps, Dustbowl and Hydro. Valve is promising more maps in the near future, but I don't know what that means for XBox players. I'd wager you won't be left out in the cold completely.

Even with six maps, I don't understand how people could get bored with this game. Defending the last control point on Dustbowl for fifteen straight minutes while your opponents attempt a new strategy with every rush just never gets old.

nice, thanks for the reply. I was worried tf2 might only turn out like my experience with Day of Defeat - I'd enjoy it for a couple of days and then move on because nearly every game was played on the same few maps. Just seemed odd that after a decade of developing tf2 they only had 6 maps...

Look forward to TF2 but look more forward to continuing with Half-Life and the episodes.

Spike Marshall

10-09-2007, 12:21 PM

I wonder how the Achievements are gonna break down for the game, does each major (Half Life 2, Portal, TF2) game get 1000 points each or is just going to be 1000 points spread across all five games.

mongycore

10-09-2007, 12:24 PM

Only 1000 achievement points for the game...divided into 99 achievements spread out for all included games. Some achievement sites have detailed lists, but are pretty spoilery.

Owen

10-09-2007, 12:33 PM

Yeah, they wanted to give each game 1000 points, but MS said no.

Spike Marshall

10-09-2007, 12:38 PM

That seems, kinda odd.

What was the worse thing that could have happened by releasing a game with 3000 Achievement Points?

DJ HiPPiE

10-09-2007, 12:41 PM

I'm more hyped for TF2 than I was for Halo 3.....And I was pretty hyped for that.

Sadly I won't be able to pick it up till later this week.

Owen

10-09-2007, 12:52 PM

That seems, kinda odd.

What was the worse thing that could have happened by releasing a game with 3000 Achievement Points?

Apparently the policy is that they had to cap it at 1000 because the games came in one package. So I guess if they would release a box set with 3 separate cases, then it would have been ok.

Eric Cordo

10-09-2007, 02:11 PM

Crap, I still haven't voted yet and I created this thread. I also can't decide which one I'm looking forward to more. That strikes me as a good thing. Unless I hated them all equally. Which I don't.

Slater

10-09-2007, 03:27 PM

Portal will be my first stop, followed by the Half-Lives. My big question is whether to jump right into Episode One and Two, or play through the original again first.

Brad Millette

10-09-2007, 03:45 PM

Portal is going to destroy my mind. It's going to do something to my spatial reasoning skills, and I'm just not going to be able to function properly anymore, just shuffle about aimlessly and bump into walls.

Overlord

10-09-2007, 03:57 PM

Portal will be my first stop, followed by the Half-Lives. My big question is whether to jump right into Episode One and Two, or play through the original again first.

Having only played the XBOX version, my choice is easy (ummm...playing HL2 again).

I am running out of free time.

Bioshock-finished..
Halo 3-haven't finished level 2!
The Orange Box
Call of Duty 4: We Promise it's not Call of Duty 3
Exhibit “E”: Kane & Lynch. The multiplayer has you robbing banks and betraying comrades. Awesome.
MASS EFFECT!!! The specific reason I bought a 360.
Area 51. Demo was very fun.
CONAN!!!
Army of Two: depending on reviews.
Assassin’s Creed
Guitar Hero III and/or Rock Band

And that’s only a fraction. There are a ton of genre games that I didn’t even bother to list.

Rob

10-09-2007, 04:00 PM

I'll be picking this up this week hopefully for Portal. And I'm gathering from this thread that most of you are jumping ship to TF2 instead of Halo. Goddammit, I only bought Halo to play with Chud people. Looks like I'll have to start playing some TF2.

Graham

10-09-2007, 04:11 PM

That said, Portal seems wicked, and all the little tidbits I've heard about it beyond the basic concept -- that it does take place in the Half-Life universe, that that voice actually has character development -- really has me curious. And the basic portal concept itself is of course great -- anybody else played Narbacular Drop (http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/narbaculardrop.html)? It's a short little freebee using the same portal concept with a much older 3d technology. It's what the folks Valve brought aboard to make Portal did to earn that hire.

I take it you are aware that the protagonist in 'Portal', ie 'Chell', (I think short for 'Michelle'. but I could be wrong), is supposedly going to be involved in 'Episode 3'? ...As is 'Aperture Science'.

...and how many of you guys have already pre-loaded via Steam?

Graham

10-09-2007, 04:14 PM

Portal will be my first stop, followed by the Half-Lives. My big question is whether to jump right into Episode One and Two, or play through the original again first.

Half-Life Or Half-Life 2?

...and...YES!!!

Owen

10-09-2007, 04:30 PM

I take it you are aware that the protagonist in 'Portal', ie 'Chell', (I think short for 'Michelle'. but I could be wrong), is supposedly going to be involved in 'Episode 3'? ...As is 'Aperture Science'.

Eh, that's pure speculation right now, but the more reliable word is simply that Aperture Science itself will come into play.

Anyway, that shit needs to be spoiler tagged.

Graham

10-09-2007, 04:41 PM

Eh, that's pure speculation right now, but the more reliable word is simply that Aperture Science itself will come into play.

Anyway, that shit needs to be spoiler tagged.
Done.

dontEATnachos

10-09-2007, 04:48 PM

...
The Orange Box
Call of Duty 4
Kane & Lynch
MASS EFFECT
Assassin’s Creed
...
Guitar Hero III and Rock Band

My list is basically the same as Overlord's with Rock Band/Guitar Hero being a definite AND plus the couple good PS3 games that are actually coming out: Ratchet & Clank and Uncharted (possibly Haze as well).

I'm thinking I might wait until November and just pick up the PS3 version of this or pick up a copy used after Christmas.

Graham

10-09-2007, 04:48 PM

And who's playing WHAT first?

Episode 2
Portal
Team Fortress 2

...always questions...

DJ HiPPiE

10-09-2007, 04:50 PM

And who's playing WHAT first?

Episode 2
Portal
Team Fortress 2

...always questions...

TF2 without question.....Closely followed by portal with E2 being played when i'm finally bored with the first two.

Chris Allen

10-09-2007, 05:31 PM

Gotta go with HL2's, as I barely got into the version I got on the XBOX. I got it for Christmas, then shortly after got my 360, and never went back. It's been sitting on my shelf collecting dust ever since.

Plus, I knew that the 360 version would be done right, so I never bothered with the BC downloads that finally came out.

Beageal

10-09-2007, 05:53 PM

I take it you are aware that the protagonist in 'Portal'... ... ... ...As is 'Aperture Science'.

...and how many of you guys have already pre-loaded via Steam?
Whatever you invisosaid, I'm gonna assume that I'm not aware of it. I'm getting better and better at avoiding spoilers.

And Ep2 and Portal are pre-loaded, TF2 won't be loaded ever, and HL2+Ep1 are going to be gifted.

And who's playing WHAT first?

...always questions...
That's a toughie. I might go Portal first, simply because I expect it to be harder to pull myself away:

Oh, I'll just try this puzzle one more time ... Okay, one more time ... And got it, now it's bedtime ... Aw heck, might as well just see what the next level's all about...
And Portal's shorter, so it'll be a much quicker play-through overall.

Bruce Wayne

10-09-2007, 06:34 PM

I'm looking forward to Half-Life 2 and both episodes the most. I stopped playing it on my friend's old Xbox when I found out it was coming to the PS3. Hopefully the PS3 port is well done or I might have to break down and buy it on Steam (I don't game on my PC much).

Beageal

10-09-2007, 07:38 PM

Aw, dammit. It just occurred to me that the Orange Box will be unlocked on Steam at midnight Pacific Time. That's 3 am for me, so I guess I won't be trying any of these out until the morning. Why can't this world just agree on one time, huh?

Owen

10-09-2007, 11:09 PM

Damn it, I am seriously anxious with anticipation. I want this shit in my hands right now. And I'm pissed that I have a shitty computer as well; otherwise I'd be playing this in four hours rather than 14 or 15.

Werbal_Kint

10-10-2007, 12:07 AM

All the cool kids have been busy for two weeks already playing the Team Fortress 2 beta, and all the cool kids agree Team Fortress 2 kicks tremendous ass.

Michael Shaver

10-10-2007, 12:09 AM

The Orange Box
Call of Duty 4: We Promise it's not Call of Duty 3
Kane & Lynch.
MASS EFFECT
Army of Two
Assassin’s Creed
Guitar Hero III and/or Rock Band

This is what I'm excited for. I'm kind of bummed that Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway has been pushed back to early next year.

And ditto to Gist's last post.

Alex Riviello

10-10-2007, 12:12 AM

I'd just like to take this moment to say a big fuck you to Amazon, who has decided to ship my game on October 15th, for some reason.

Getting it for the 360, and getting it mostly for Half-Life 2 and the two episodes.

keeks

10-10-2007, 01:50 AM

I've been playing a ton of TF2 since the beta became available and it's fucking awesome. Once the other games unlock I'll definitely try Portal first. Several reviewers have said it's one of the funniest and best written games in years.

Werbal_Kint

10-10-2007, 05:24 AM

It's also SUPER FUCKING SCARY.

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/3030/ohalpjs0.jpg

Brad Millette

10-10-2007, 07:50 AM

Brad Millette

10-10-2007, 08:03 AM

Also: Ha ha, Werbal is a diaper baby.

Graham

10-10-2007, 08:42 AM

They make diapers that big?

Coyote

10-10-2007, 11:28 AM

Traditionally, our Super Big Blowout New Years Party (Dec 30-Jan2) has marathons of everyone...including people that don't play video games...passing around the X-Box controller for the Burnout games. But since "this year's" Burnout doesn't get released til January (grrr), I'm thinking I may need to get Portal to screw with people's heads.

Beageal

10-10-2007, 11:42 AM

Well, three and a half hours straight and Portal is done. A very short game, but great (and you just know user-made maps will soon be a-plenty).

Nerdly-spoilery questions for those others who've finished, and who know their Half-Life:

1. Any idea what time frame this is supposed to be? Those slideshows said Aperture was in competiton with Black Mesa, and since we can assume Black Mesa ceased to exist post HL1, Aperture must be pretty old -- though it had also clearly been out of use for a while (since the Voice gassed everybody), it didn't seem particularly run-down. I was hoping we'd get to take a look around outside when it was all done, but alas.

2. Seems to me Aperture's design (especially those turrets) shares a lot with the Combine Elite soliders. Not really a question, I'm just sayin'.

3. Did anybody get dumped into those flames at the end of the test? Is that game over, because that'd be great if it were.

All right, time to shower, eat, vote, then consider blowing the rest of my day on Episode Two.

Spike Marshall

10-10-2007, 11:43 AM

Eurogamer have their reviews up

The Orange Box (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=85044)

Portal (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=85005)

Episode 2 (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=84997)

The 19th really can't come fast enough.

Owen

10-10-2007, 11:53 AM

Beageal

10-10-2007, 12:01 PM

I don't doubt that Aperture will be at least subtly mentioned in Ep2, and maybe we'll even see portals show up in Episode 3 (ETA: 2017)...

Owen

10-10-2007, 12:03 PM

I'm hoping that we'll see it next Christmas, which isn't too unreasonable. What was unreasonable wwas that anyone, much less Valve, thought they could pump the episodes out every six months.

Beageal

10-10-2007, 12:32 PM

They don't need to rush themselves for my sake. I've got loads of games on my docket. It's ridiculous how many I've either already got and haven't gotten to/through, are out but I haven't picked up yet, or are coming soon. Even if I didn't want to be productive at all, there still wouldn't be enough time.

Werbal_Kint

10-10-2007, 01:52 PM

Also: Ha ha, Werbal is a diaper baby.

NOIMNAWD ;_; sad

Overlord

10-10-2007, 02:04 PM

They don't need to rush themselves for my sake.

Valve has never rushed anything. I'm convinced they plan their bowel movements for hours, if not days, in advance.

Rob

10-10-2007, 03:10 PM

So I just picked this up on my lunch break, and won't have time to play until late tonight. But I do have a question for those of you who have it for the 360. Are the load times in HL2 still unfuckingbearable? Granted, I mostly picked this up for Portal and TF2, I'm curious because I would actually like to finish HL2.

Eric Cordo

10-10-2007, 03:18 PM

I'm going to pick this up after work tonight. TF2 tonight anyone?

Rob

10-10-2007, 03:22 PM

I'm down with some TF2 tonight. Just hope this lame rehearsal dinner I have to go to doesn't go too long.

Overlord

10-10-2007, 03:23 PM

I'm going to pick this up after work tonight. TF2 tonight anyone?

Checklist to be completed by this Sunday:

1)Earn Cal a national championship and either DeSean Jackson or Nate Longshore the Heisman in NCAA 2008;

2)Ignore the allure of multi-player and finish Halo 3 single player campaign on Heroic (I actually turned off xbox live a few days ago), as I found it impossible to do anything else);

3)Play through HL2 and the two follow-up episodes;

4)Become familiar with Team Fortess 2 and the various classes-worry about proficiency later.

Doable? Probably not. TF2 may have to wait until the middle of next week.

Owen

10-10-2007, 03:24 PM

Alrighty. Just picked this up, and I'm about to head over to my friend's apartment to play Portal.

Interesting note, the guy at Gamestop said I was the sixth person to trade in Halo 3 for this. And awesomely, Halo 3 is worth $35 on the trade in, so that plus Just Cause plus the extra $10 you get for trading in two games meant I only paid about $9 for this. Beautiful.

DJ HiPPiE

10-10-2007, 03:34 PM

I'm really not that surprised at the amount of H3 tradeins....I'm sure alot of people bought into the hype only to find out that the gameplay was exactly the same as 2.

Not that I have a problem with it.....I'm actually enjoying H3 way more than H2 and have no intention of trading my legendary edition in any time soon....But I hope to have my hands on TOB sometime before the weekend.

Has anyone here played TF2 on the 360 yet cause i'm hearing some serious horror stories about lag on it.

Overlord

10-10-2007, 03:38 PM

Has anyone here played TF2 on the 360 yet cause i'm hearing some serious horror stories about lag on it.

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rob

10-10-2007, 03:41 PM

We need Chewers in here with this for 360 to dismiss or give creedence to this rumor! I haven't opened mine yet, and will take it back if this is the case.

DJ HiPPiE

10-10-2007, 03:41 PM

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's exactly what I said when I first starting reading about it.....So far no one on my FL has played it so I don't know what's going on.

Overlord

10-10-2007, 03:42 PM

We need Chewers in here with this for 360 to dismiss or give creedence to this rumor! I haven't opened mine yet, and will take it back if this is the case.

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc94/Overlord1317/untitled.jpg

Trevor

10-10-2007, 03:57 PM

Interesting note, the guy at Gamestop said I was the sixth person to trade in Halo 3 for this.

So there are at least six reasonable people in Alabama. I knew it!

Darth Chocula

10-10-2007, 04:16 PM

As someone who's never picked up and played Half Life 2 and gotten a positive summery of it from Medium Dave , this looks to be another fine purchase for the 360, not that I'm about to lose steam when it comes to meleeing my way through Halo 3.

That seems, kinda odd.

What was the worse thing that could have happened by releasing a game with 3000 Achievement Points?

More fuel for this asshole (http://www.knucklesdawson.com/). His claim to fame? unlocking an achievement every day since the 360's launch.

gravedigger

10-10-2007, 04:27 PM

So am I the only guy who might be getting this for the PS3?

dontEATnachos

10-10-2007, 04:33 PM

So am I the only guy who might be getting this for the PS3?

Nope.

Blunt

10-10-2007, 04:39 PM

I was planning to get it for the PS3 but it's only coming out in November, which is a crazy buying month for me + it's not handled by Valve but by EA and so far the quality of the port is an unknown quantity + my PC should be able to run it decently = my first PC game bought in 4 years (last one was Max Payne 2).

thalasi

10-10-2007, 06:32 PM

Portal is so kicking my ass. Im willing to admit Im no genius but I cant wrap my head around how to finish level 18. I can get into that last room and get the box, but Im totally at a loss for what Im supposed to do next since the door closes on you when you enter the room. Still havent cracked open episode two yet though, I think Im going to save that one for the weekend.

Rob

10-10-2007, 06:59 PM

So anyone here experiencing lag on TF2 for the 360? Bueller? Bueller?

Domingo

10-10-2007, 07:04 PM

$60 Canadian? Damn this was cheap!

Overlord

10-10-2007, 07:30 PM

So anyone here experiencing lag on TF2 for the 360? Bueller? Bueller?

I demand a response to this query!

Owen

10-10-2007, 07:32 PM

Alright, alright, I'll take a break here for a minute to try it out.

DJ HiPPiE

10-10-2007, 07:34 PM

So anyone here experiencing lag on TF2 for the 360? Bueller? Bueller?

That's what alot of us are waiting to hear about.....It's pretty much ensured that I won't be picking it up tonight......I think i'll wait until I hear what's going on.

Rob

10-10-2007, 07:36 PM

Well I was going to wait to open it, but then I had a few drinks. And then Portal was calling out to me. Haven't tried TF2 yet, but Portal is pretty damn cool, and disorienting as hell. Will probably try a game of TF2 tonight.

Owen

10-10-2007, 07:43 PM

Alright so I just played for a few minutes, and there is lag, but only between the end of one round and the beginning of another, which is about 30 seconds. Whne the game is actually going, it seems fine.

Rob

10-10-2007, 07:44 PM

Well as long as the hitboxes are matched up to players unlike when CS:Source came out, I can live with that.

mongycore

10-10-2007, 07:48 PM

For whatever reason I can't find ranked matches in TF2...servers aren't up or are dead...who knows.

I searched for a non-ranked match. Got in - maybe it's host dependent, but there was no game killing lag as you'd see in say - The Darkness. Game was up and running, people were destroying each other. Some fucking hilarious fun when you find a class and exploit your playstyle.

I went nuts as the engineer setting up cross sections of human blending turrets at 2fort. So satisfying when you see some heavy/demo attack it and you sneak up from behind with a shotty.

awesome. My guess on the lag is it's host specific. Didn't seem so bad on this end (I'm using sbc dsl).

DJ HiPPiE

10-10-2007, 07:50 PM

Owen

10-10-2007, 07:59 PM

Yeah, got into another game and no lag at any point. That's some awesome shit. I think the Spy is my man.

Now, it's time to get back to Portal and chain smoking.

Bruce Wayne

10-10-2007, 08:01 PM

So am I the only guy who might be getting this for the PS3?

Nah, I might get it for the PS3 if the port is done well.

Owen

10-10-2007, 08:38 PM

Wow, these cutsie turrets are creeping me out.

keeks

10-10-2007, 08:49 PM

keeks, what's your Steam ID? We could use more warm bodies on Team Venture. I'm halfway around the world from most of you guys so I doubt that would work out. I get decent pings to Scandinavian and Eastern European servers, mostly. Thanks for the offer though!

keeks

10-10-2007, 09:38 PM

Here's the mp3 (http://rapidshare.com/files/61709597/Jonathan_Coulton_-_Still_Alive.mp3.html) of the song from the Portal end credits if anyone's interested. Don't listen to it if you haven't completed the game. It's by Jonathan Coulton (http://www.jonathancoulton.com/).

Nexus-7

10-10-2007, 10:20 PM

Um, is it a spoiler?

I love the Half-Life 2 music. Same composer?

Beageal

10-10-2007, 10:23 PM

It's nothing like any Half-Life music. If you haven't finished Portal, don't listen yet.

But on behalf of us those of us who have finished Portal, thank you keeks. Where'd you get it? Rip it yourself, or did Valve/Jonathan Coulton/someone else post it somewhere?

keeks

10-10-2007, 10:28 PM

But on behalf of us those of us who have finished Portal, thank you keeks. Where'd you get it? Rip it yourself, or did Valve/Jonathan Coulton/someone else post it somewhere?I extracted it from the game files. Coulton is known for releasing his stuff on the internet so I figured it's OK.

Also, I always extract the commentary from Valve games for later listening on the bus. I can never be arsed to actually play through the games again just for the commentary. Valve really needs to implement the "press a button to cycle through the commentary nodes" functionality they have in TF2 in their single player games.

Owen

10-10-2007, 10:31 PM

Owen

10-10-2007, 10:32 PM

I extracted it from the game files. Coulton is known for releasing his stuff on the internet so I figured it's OK.

It's going on Steam at some point so it's no biggie.

JuddL

10-10-2007, 10:43 PM

Portal was way too short.

Spoiler (highlight)

But at least their was cake!

Beageal

10-10-2007, 10:46 PM

Shit. I'm stuck in level 18 of Portal where you're in the big open room and one of those energy ball shooters is rotating and shooting balls in four directions. I've taken out all the turrets in the room, but I can't get the ball in the catcher behind the door. Anybody know what the hell I'm talking about and want to help me out?

Invisiotexted progressive clues:

1. There is a button to open that door.

...

2. The button is right by the door.

...

3. The button is elevated, and you'll have to hit it in mid air.

...

4. Set a pair of portals so the ball is flying towards the closed door. Once it's through, and you need to be quick here, stick a portal on that panel of wall right by the button and the other end right in front of you. Jump through and hit the button before the ball gets to the door.

Clear?

Owen

10-10-2007, 10:52 PM

Ah fuck, I had all those steps, but I was doing them in the wrong order. Alright, let's see if I'm fast enough to pull this shit off.

edit: haha, got it the first try. Goddamn it I'm stupid. I've been trying to figure that shit out for 30 or 40 minutes.

Owen

10-10-2007, 11:15 PM

Fuck it, I'm close to giving up on this. Now I can't figure out how to get to the place with the box. I think I just suck at these kinds of things.

edit: and then I figure it out. Jesus. Alright, no more whining about this, I promise.

mongycore

10-10-2007, 11:27 PM

that room had me for about 20 minutes...tried doing it the timing way but ended up standing with the switch post and positioned the two portals for a bounce into the target zone....finished it in a couple of hours. Decent fun, with cutesy end credits.

Brad Millette

10-10-2007, 11:27 PM

Hint: Look at the door you open with the switch below the box.

Portal may be too short, but it's incredible. Best ending for any game ever.

Werbal_Kint

10-10-2007, 11:30 PM

Bitching about Portal's length is not allowed. Because it's one of the most awesome game experiences EVER.

Owen

10-10-2007, 11:33 PM

Yeah, the payoff for figuring out the puzzles near the end is just awesome. It was hard to imagine before that this game could be intense, but it really is. And there's so much fucking imagination behind these puzzles.

Ok, I'm not going to let myself watch the new South Park until I finish this, so it's time to kick the shit out of Chamber 19.

Brad Millette

10-10-2007, 11:36 PM

Chamber 19 is a bitch. Especially once the experiment ends.

Brad Millette

10-10-2007, 11:40 PM

I don't think I've ever laughed so much during a boss fight, and I played Psychonauts.

Russ Fischer

10-10-2007, 11:41 PM

Oh, I do love PORTAL. Fucking hell, I really REALLY love it.

I played about 15 tests before I had to go back to work but I can't wait to get back to finish it. Then HL2 and the episodes.

Halo what?

Owen

10-10-2007, 11:41 PM

Chamber 19 is a bitch. Especially once the experiment ends.

Haha, yeah, it just ended. Holy shit.

Master Shake

10-11-2007, 12:16 AM

Interesting note, the guy at Gamestop said I was the sixth person to trade in Halo 3 for this.

I want to get Orange Box (gonna rent before buying), but I refuse to trade in Halo 3 for it. The last time I traded in a Halo for a online game that I thought would be the bees knees and everybody would play it online forever was Halo 2 for Unreal Championship 2. Boy did THAT bite me in the ass, especially since nobody played UC2 online after the first two weeks. Halo 3 will ALWAYS have people playing it up until Halo 4 or whatever, but the team-based action of TF2 might shrink the online population for it.

By the way, anyone confirm that it's just a straight port of the Xbox's Half-Life 2 on there? IGN mentioned it in the review, and I have night terrors about the loading times in the Xbox version.

Owen

10-11-2007, 12:21 AM

It's not a port of the Xbox version. There are lots of visual updates like HDR, and I know at least Alyx and the Vortigaunts have updated skins.

edit: Doug Lombardi posted this somewhere:

On the 360 updates to HL2 and EpOne, we gave both games a complete pass to bring them up to date with the new titles delivered in The Orange Box (Ep 2, TF2, and Portal).

The basic idea being: We know console gamers are new to the series and may take the HL2 parts in sequence, so we took the opportunity to leverage the power of the next gen system and tune up the graphics to put them on parallel planes in terms of graphic presentation values.

Specifically, we touched/added the following to both HL2 and Ep 1 for the 360:

- High Dynamic Range Rendering

- Motion Blur

- Real-time dynamic soft shadowing (specifically from the player's flashlight)

- Updated shading technology

Higher quality surface effects such as specular highlights on skin

- Updated assets for many of the primary characters

Alyx, the Vortigaunt and other characters have upgraded textures, bump maps etc

- Upgraded particle systems

Higher quality fire effects

Soft particles which blend more naturally with the surrounding environment

Eric Cordo

10-11-2007, 12:57 AM

Thankfully I didn't get to play at all because I just got home from work and I have to open in the morning. Oh well, tomorrow night.

Overlord

10-11-2007, 01:07 AM

Gamestop is so fucking worthless. I had two simple missions today: pick up a copy of the Orange Box (trade in Saints Row) and pick up the new PSP core, and trade in my current PSP.

After visiting one store and calling the other two in my area, this is what I discovered;

1)No copies of the Orange Box other than pre-orders were sent to stores! That's right, zero inventory for customers who didn't want the hassle of pre-ordering. Since I was trading in a game, I couldn't do what I normally do and just head to Best Buy.

2)"Corporate had made a decision" to not have any of the new PSP cores available to stores until the bundles sold out. So, unless you want a stupid-ass Dexter bundle or a Battlefront bundle, you're out of luck.

-again, this was all three stores in my area. I swear, once this PSP is traded in for the new one, I'm never going to Gamestop again.

Owen

10-11-2007, 01:16 AM

Hmm, I thought it was strange that when I called Gamestop today to see if they had gotten the shipment, the guy asked me if I had pre-ordered. It all makes sense now. That really does suck, though.

Man, I love how the last level of Portal is probably as long as the entire rest of the game. I'm just now at the boss battle.

Owen

10-11-2007, 01:40 AM

Wow, what a game. What a wonderful fucking game.

Russ Fischer

10-11-2007, 01:43 AM

"Remember when the platform was sliding into the fire, and I went, 'goodbye' and you were all like, 'No way!'?"

JuddL

10-11-2007, 01:54 AM

I meant no disrespect in saying it's too short, it was just so damn good (and unexpectedly hilarious) I was really hoping it'd be more than a few hour diversion.

btw, is it just me or is Team Fortress 2 a mess right now? Every time I play the game gets lagged to shit.

Nexus-7

10-11-2007, 03:10 AM

If TF2 is really that bad on the 360 I would expect a patch any time now, this isn't EA we're talking about...

Oh wait, they're doing the PS3 version. Errrrr...

Werbal_Kint

10-11-2007, 03:38 AM

TF2's having problems on the PC right now, but more in the vein of a noob influx and the unexplained filtering of 32-man servers from the server list.

Nexus-7

10-11-2007, 03:44 AM

"You haven't been playing for 2 weeks! Die noob, die!"

Please tell me this won't be like Counter-Strike when I get around to playing it.
By that, I mean impossible.

Werbal_Kint

10-11-2007, 03:53 AM

No, the variety of classes almost guarantees that there will be SOMETHING evenly relatively poor players can do to help the team. This isn't like CS where tactics are more or less the same for every player.

The worst players, I've noticed, are the ones who ignore the needs of the overall team because they want to stick with a certain class. This leads to things like having three or four snipers on offense when you never need more than 1 or 2.

I suggest learning to play three or four classes fairly well. Pay attention to which classes your team is lacking, and switch as necessary to fill that void.

My most played classes are Soldier, Pyro and Medic. Soldier and Pyro are probably the best starting classes since they can be effective in an offensive or defensive capability, and playstyle can be readily changed to counter what your enemy is doing.

I find Heavies and Spies to be the toughest. Heavies are bullet-magnets and are quickly killed unless you've got a good Medic on your back (and there are a lot of bad ones. The worst are the ones that RUN AWAY at first sign of danger). Spies have a lot of abilities to manage, and your disguises are only as useful as your opponent is dumb. Smart opponents spy-check EVERYONE they come in contact with.

Werbal_Kint

10-11-2007, 04:22 AM

Here's some notes to keep you from pissing off your team:

* Soldier: When attacking before a round starts, find a Medic and use your rocket jump ability to hurt yourself. He can heal you and he'll get his uber charge faster. Sometimes you can have an uber ready before the match starts. Also, when faced with the choice between killing a person or an engineer's equipment, pick the equipment. Its an easier target and getting rid of a dispenser or teleporter will weaken the entire team.

* Scout: Worry less about chasing down people and killing them and focus more on getting to control points. Don't go out of your way to murder someone.

* Demoman: Your secondary weapon, the Sticky Grenades, is often more useful than your primary. Charge a shot up and stick it to turrets instead of bouncing grenades all over the place.

* Sniper: As I mentioned earlier, too many people want to be a Sniper. If there's already two Snipers on a team, you many want to be a different class.

* Medic: Vice versa for the Soldier tip. Heal people who are being hurt (sounds simple, but I've seen plenty of dumb medics healing people who don't need it). If you and your target come under fire, stick with him. Don't bother healing Engineers, Spies, Scouts, Snipers or other Medics unless you've got nothing better to do. Only ubercharge Heavies, Soldiers, Pyros and, in a pinch, Demomen. Don't ubercharge someone who's not ready, I.E. a Heavy out of ammo.

* Heavy: Find a Medic right away. Spin your gun going around corners so you can be ready for enemies. Always press forward when ubered (seen plenty of Heavies who stand around like dickshits when they're fucking INVINCIBLE).

* Pyro: Your flamethrower is useless over 10 feet. Ambush people and stick in close quarters. Always, always, always do spychecks on teammates. Flames break a Spy's cover, and almost always kill him.

* Engineer: Build teleporters first on offense, not sentries. Put up a dispenser before building a Sentry. Spycheck anyone who comes near your stuff. If your equipment gets sapped, break the sap on the sentry gun first. If the Spy decides to backstab you, he'll decloak and the sentry gun will kill him. Don't build Sentry Guns in the open or FACING WALLS (it happens).

* Spy: I don't know anything about playing a Spy. But I've seen plenty of BAD enemy Spies. Don't disguise as a Medic, Heavy, Scout, Engineer or another Spy - Medics and Engineers out NEVER have their primary weapon out, Heavies and Scouts run at a different speed than you do and a team almost NEVER sees their own Spies - all of these are dead giveaways. Never approach enemy lines under disguise - it's suspicious. If you're forced into combat, cloak and run. Don't pull out your gun like a dipshit because you'll only get killed.

That's pretty much what I've noticed. Some classes are tougher than others, but everyone should be able to find ONE that they can enjoy and be decent at.

Domingo

10-11-2007, 05:28 AM

I love TF2! Fantastic fun! Generally speaking I seem to be having success as a spy, turning my back and pretending to fight my team while backing into the enemy zone slowly. Works shockingly well to get behind the bad guys.

Steam tag is Sarnecki, add me up for some fraggin.

Brad Millette

10-11-2007, 07:51 AM

Werbal gives some good advice. Here's some more, for my personal best class, the Sniper.

- Your laser sight is a dead giveaway. Always, ALWAYS, keep it trained on something close to you until you actually go for a shot. Remember, your enemy almost always can't see you, but they can see your laser dot, and they'll avoid it like it was herpes. Find a windowsill, barrel or anything else in your close proximity, and hunker down with that in the field of view where you're actually aiming. On a map like Dustbowl, keep it trained on the wall to the right or left of the tunnel you're covering.

- You only need one good Sniper. I know everyone wants to be a badass, but you're a defensive class, first and foremost. More than one good Sniper is taking away a valuable body count from your offensive coordination.

- You don't need to find high ground to be a good sniper. Frequently, you'll get the most shots on the ground, using a building for cover. This is especially true on the various Dustbowl maps.

- You are expendable. You're going to die a lot. Deal with it. If a Medic is healing you, politely tell him to go be useful or die in a fucking fire. If a Medic ever ubers you, curse his lineage until the end of time. I've had to yell at far too many Medics who'll just sit with a full uber meter on 2Fort just to make sure I stay alive. It's dumb. Don't let it happen.

- Your natural enemy is the Spy. You can't do anything about it. Sorry. If a Spy gets up to the Battlements on 2Fort, you're fucked.

- Scouts are extremely difficult targets, except on 2Fort. Learn when and where they'll make that jump to the top of the bridge, and you can pick them off in mid-air. Even if it isn't a headshot, one full charge shot from the rifle is enough to kill a scout, and almost any other class aside from Soldiers and Heavies.

- Destruction. You may not think you're a good class on Sentry detail, and you're not the best, but in a pinch, your long range, and the power of your shots, can be invaluable in taking out sentry guns. If you see an enemy Engineer setting one up, shoot it right away. Then shoot him. Then shoot his friends. Then attempt to shoot your friends to make you feel better.

- If, at any point, you have to resort to using the submachine gun, you have failed as a person and you are already dead.

- Most importantly, patience is key. Find a good spot, stay out of sight, and STAY ON DEFENSE. I know that on the 360, the maximum game size is 16. A sniper on an offensive team when you've only got eight slots is crippling yourselves. Find another class to be good at.

Owen

10-11-2007, 10:27 AM

Alright, I've got no class or work today, so it's time for Episode Two in one sitting. Let's see how it measures up with Portal.

Scott

10-11-2007, 11:18 AM

Hey does anyone have 60 bucks that I could have?

Owen

10-11-2007, 11:50 AM

Just held off the ant lion invasion. That shit was crazy. It really felt like a last stand there at the end.

DJ HiPPiE

10-11-2007, 12:37 PM

Gamestop is so fucking worthless.

Welcome to 2005

1)No copies of the Orange Box other than pre-orders were sent to stores! That's right, zero inventory for customers who didn't want the hassle of pre-ordering. Since I was trading in a game, I couldn't do what I normally do and just head to Best Buy.

Tell ya what....Stop by that gamestop again today and see if they have any....Sometimes they have plenty over the preorders but won't sell them until after the preorders have been picked up.

I go to one EB....And that's only because I know everyone there from the manager to the newest clerk....And because they are one of the best stores in the country....Other than that I find all the game stores useless.

Overlord

10-11-2007, 12:41 PM

Welcome to 2005

Tell ya what....Stop by that gamestop again today and see if they have any....Sometimes they have plenty over the preorders but won't sell them until after the preorders have been picked up.

I go to one EB....And that's only because I know everyone there from the manager to the newest clerk....And because they are one of the best stores in the country....Other than that I find all the game stores useless.

I want the 20.00 extra trade-in special they have going on right now. LAST TIME EVER DOING ANYTHING AT GAMESTOP, I SWEAR!

gravedigger

10-11-2007, 12:47 PM

You said that last time! Who's gonna help me with Overlord's intervention?

Owen

10-11-2007, 12:53 PM

Yeah, we all say that we're done with Gamestop, but then we keep going back.

Overlord

10-11-2007, 12:54 PM

You said that last time! Who's gonna help me with Overlord's intervention?

I don't need any help! I can control this problem on my own! Why are you persecuting me?

SCREW YOU ALL! *sob* *sob*

DJ HiPPiE

10-11-2007, 12:56 PM

I don't need any help! I can control this problem on my own! Why are you persecuting me?

SCREW YOU ALL! *sob* *sob*

There there.....Let it out.....It's ok your among friends.....Admitting the problem is the first step to recovery.

LlamaRama

10-11-2007, 02:56 PM

It's taking me forever to download these things on Steam, but I've played through Portal and it might be one of the finest game experiences ever devised. Amazing writing, amazing puzzles, amazing concept - it would have been worth 30-40 dollars all by itself.

Russ Fischer

10-11-2007, 03:11 PM

I had to pause mid-level 19 on PORTAL last night to work and sleep. But I'm curious, is there any use for the login/password combo that's 'hidden' in experiment 17 or so?

Jacob Singer

10-11-2007, 03:32 PM

I just wish these were individually priced at bargain rates too. All I want is Ep2 and Portal, dammit.

Owen

10-11-2007, 03:32 PM

You can use it at aperturescience.com to get a history of the company. It's pretty funny.

Y3k-Bug

10-11-2007, 05:23 PM

This is the greatest gaming package ever released.

Portal was worth it just for the boss fight alone. The way it forces you to think out side of standard FPS conventions was amazing.

TF2 is easily the best online game I've played. Watching players figure out new strategies ON THEIR FIRST PLAY THROUGH of the game speaks volumes on its depth AND accessibility.

Episode 2 is what Episode 1 should have been: an ambitious push into a cinematic sense of storytelling and gameplay than even HL2, which is saying alot.

That said, the link between Aperture and HL2 universe seems rather goofy. They did manage to crowbar it in there somewhat elegantly, but feh.

Anthony Sollecito

10-11-2007, 06:18 PM

This shouldn't surprise me so much since I was once a TFC junkie, but I am now hopelessly addicted to TF2. If you have Orange Box for the 360, my Gamer Tag is Cigarette Burn. Add me!

EDIT
One question for those with the 360 version: does your game crash at times? Sometimes mine just up and freezes, and I have to turn off my 360. There are no visible scratches on my disc, and my 360 doesn't do it to any of my other games. Maybe the game is a bit glitched? A developer new to the 360 putting five unique games on one disc seems like a recipe for a glitch here and there, so I was just wondering.

Gist

10-11-2007, 06:21 PM

ORANGE BOX GET!

I'll keep my eyes peeled for some hot TF2 action.

Overlord

10-11-2007, 06:23 PM

Finally picked this bundle up along with an new PSP core (only to discover that the composite cables don't output the video games .... and S-video cables aren't sold in the U.S...and component cables won't work for me because I don't have ready access to the back of my television).

I may just finish Portal first. Who knows, maybe I'll be back on Xbox Live by this weekend after-all!

**I DON'T BELIEVE THIS SHIT.

I had heard that there was output problems on the PSP, so I asked the Gamespot employee if games will output over composite or S-video. He said yes. I look it up on-line (stupidly, after purchasing it), and find out that the answer is "NO", it won't output games over composite or s-video.

I call the store and say I'm coming back in to retrieve my old system and return this one. They say no. I ask "can't you cancel the transaction, it happened two hours ago." They say "no, it's been processed, we don't care if we gave you the wrong info."

If I hadn't learned my lesson yet, I have now. Hopefully this will be fixed with a firmware update.

Michael Shaver

10-11-2007, 07:09 PM

1)No copies of the Orange Box other than pre-orders were sent to stores! That's right, zero inventory for customers who didn't want the hassle of pre-ordering. Since I was trading in a game, I couldn't do what I normally do and just head to Best Buy.

I have two near me, one by Target and the other by Borders, and they're about a five minute drive from each other. I go to the Borders one because the people at the Target one are a bunch of tools.

I get to the Borders one yesterday and the guy tells me that they were all sold out. Instead of having to go to another store to get it, he gives me his copy that he had reserved.

ScottieFerguson

10-11-2007, 09:03 PM

Jason P. Thompson

10-11-2007, 09:08 PM

I just want to continue with HL2. I don't currently have the time or interest in the other stuff.

Eric Cordo

10-11-2007, 09:16 PM

Just beat Portal. What a fantastic little game experience, despite being a bit on the short side (took me about 2 hours straight through.) Particularly enjoyed the voice/computer looking back on all the great times we'd had towards the end. Nice laugh out loud moment.

I love when she's talking about the party and she's like "Well, you don't have any friends. And you're adopted."

And the song was great at the end.

Owen

10-11-2007, 09:18 PM

Portal plays into the HL universe, and based on the end of Episode 2, (possible spoiler)figures to play very heavily into Episode 3.

LlamaRama

10-11-2007, 09:19 PM

I just want to continue with HL2. I don't currently have the time or interest in the other stuff.
I can understand not having time for TF2, but you need to play Portal. It's easily equal to anything in any Half-Life game in terms of knockout storytelling.

ScottieFerguson

10-11-2007, 10:54 PM

I also particularly enjoyed, "is something burning?" as I threw one of the computer bits into the incinerator.

Oh, and coming from someone who only played HL2 on Xbox, it looks damn gorgeous on the 360. Maybe not as good as it would/can look on a high end pc, but for me there was a noticeable improvement.

Eric Cordo

10-12-2007, 01:24 AM

I had major connection issues with TF2 this evening. Hopefully it's just the kinks getting worked out, because I don't think I could take much more of it while I'm trying to be killed by everyone.

Domingo

10-12-2007, 01:31 AM

"They're going ta have ta GLUUUU ya back tagather! IN HELLLL!!!!"

Rofl.

Owen

10-12-2007, 05:22 AM

The end of Episode Two is a lot like the end of the third season of Battlestar Galactica, because you really start to feeling like this story is actually headed toward some kind of climax.

That said, I'm not sure if I'm down with that weird and random bit at the very end. Seems very tacked on.

Timo

10-12-2007, 06:58 AM

I've been owning noobs as a demoman these past few days more than I've ever owned anyone in an online shooter. Lots of fun.

Brad Millette

10-12-2007, 08:25 AM

Out of curiosity, and not to start any fights about it, how do you 360 users think TF2 compares to Halo as a multiplayer experience?

Spike Marshall

10-12-2007, 08:29 AM

I've been owning noobs as a demoman these past few days more than I've ever owned anyone in an online shooter. Lots of fun.

How exactly do you gets noobs on a game that for the PC is barely a fortnight old and on the 360 is less then a few days old?

Also, how does the Demoman/Engineer play. I used to play those two classes all the time on Team Fortress Classic, my Demoman for offense for grenading the shit out of sniper holes and my Engineer for fortification and shotgunning.

Brad Millette

10-12-2007, 08:36 AM

The Demoman is a good all-around defense/offense character. His main grenade launcher, though it's tricky, deals massive damage and is GREAT for keeping people back while your guys press forward. His stickybombs are the best way to deal with sentries, and are great for setting up traps.

Engineer is almost strictly defense, and builds sentry guns, teleporters, and dispensers for your team.

Spike Marshall

10-12-2007, 08:39 AM

What's the build time like on stuff, it used to be that I could push forward with an engineer and scupper the enemy with some crafty constructions in their base. I'm guessing if it's strictly defensive then the build times, with Wrench Whacks, have been slowed a little.

Does the Demoman's grenades deal splash damage or is it strictly on contact, because TFC had the former whilst TF Gold had the latter.

Brad Millette

10-12-2007, 08:45 AM

Build time is fast for sentries and teleporters. Dispensers are a little longer, but only like ten seconds. I say they're strictly defense mostly because Engineers on offense tend to be really retarded, and set up sentries to defend capture points that can't be recaptured by the red team, and waste everybody's time.

The Demomans grenades are splash damage, but a direct hit will gib anybody.

Rob

10-12-2007, 10:25 AM

Out of curiosity, and not to start any fights about it, how do you 360 users think TF2 compares to Halo as a multiplayer experience?

Well so far in my experiences with TF2 online, it's been laggy as hell. I've played (well watched my guy stutter around) about 7 matches, and everyone was near unplayable. Haven't ever had that in Halo. Which is a total bummer, because I'm really into team based objectives with different classes. So I guess until someone on my friends list starts a game and invites me, I'll be playing the other games on the Orange Box.

Edited to say: I also think both games are too different to compare really. Even with the team objectives in Halo, everyone is basically the same except for thier respected skill level. As opposed to TF2 where it really boils down to what class you are good at and how the rest of your team works together. But I really want to play some TF2 dammit! Too bad that my computer might not be able to handle it at least with the eyecandy turned up.

Ari!

10-12-2007, 10:29 AM

I hope to finally plat TF2 tonight. I'll be a complete virgin, so it should be interesting (and by saying "interesting", I really mean, "I'm so going to get my ass handed to me".)

Rob

10-12-2007, 10:30 AM

We should get a game going tonight Ari. See if any other chewers want to join. Just need someone with a sweet connection to host it.

Ari!

10-12-2007, 10:32 AM

Sounds good to me! There's no color schemes in TF2, right? Pink burns my eyes.

Brad Millette

10-12-2007, 10:33 AM

Just classic Red and Blue.

Also, if you play 2Fort, take a moment to look at your team's logo on the floor of the Intelligence room. It's funny.

Rob

10-12-2007, 10:33 AM

Unfortunately there is no pink and no unicorns...So you will have to learn to fear the FIRESTARTER!

Gist

10-12-2007, 12:45 PM

We should get a game going tonight Ari. See if any other chewers want to join. Just need someone with a sweet connection to host it.

I should be around tonight, and I'd definitely be up for this. Add jmgist if you haven't already. I think a couple of my buddies are getting the game today as well, so hopefully we can assemble a merry little band.

I think I will make any and all class choices based ENTIRELY on the strength of the character videos, and the Black Scottish Cyclops has definitely surged into the pole position in that regard.

Rob

10-12-2007, 01:02 PM

Sounds good Gist. I just sent you an invite. Hopefully we can get a game going so I can practice a bit. My apologies in advance for whoever gets stuck with Buff on a team. Going to be wierd not riding a Mongoose through checkpoints.

Eric Cordo

10-12-2007, 02:53 PM

I'll be around tonight.

I'm going to go start HL2 and the what not.

Tom Magner

10-12-2007, 02:58 PM

Oh, what the hell. SIGN MY ASS UP.

Gamertag: billabongtom05

DJ HiPPiE

10-12-2007, 02:58 PM

Stupid me forgot to grab the games I was gonna trade in and stop by EB on the way home from work....I guess I'll have to wait another day.....Fucking going nuts waiting to get this.

Y3k-Bug

10-12-2007, 03:00 PM

I'm obsessed with TF2. Oh dear.

Btw, if you guys get a game up, let me know. We should see into getting a CHUD steam community going also, if there isn't already one.

Y3k-Bug

10-12-2007, 03:12 PM

TF2's having problems on the PC right now, but more in the vein of a noob influx and the unexplained filtering of 32-man servers from the server list.

It causes what Valve claims to be "severe balance issues" when anything over 24 players is used. Personally, I like that idea.

On a map like 2fort, even 24 players at times seems like a little much. And in going with maintaining the accessibility of the title, they want to make sure that new players don't end up in 32 man cluster fucks, which can really degrade play quality.

And lets be honest, the type of players that do really want 32 player servers and probably more towards the hardcore game, and are thus more than knowledgeable enough to know how to scope those servers out.

Slightly off topic with the rest of my post, but doesn't anyone else find 2fort to not be that great in TF2? Not bad per se, just... not fun. I heart every other map though. I think I'm a capture point man.

Brad Millette

10-12-2007, 03:19 PM

2Fort is the same as it's always been, from what I hear. It's a fun map, but it can be pretty monotonous.

Anyway, what's your Steam ID?

Owen

10-12-2007, 03:27 PM

Haha, I just read that Tony Todd did the voice of the Vortigaunts in Episode 2.

Owen

10-12-2007, 03:48 PM

Just got an update for this. Maybe that'll help the lag.

Slater

10-12-2007, 07:09 PM

ANDROID HELL!

Portal is my new favorite thing ever.

Overlord

10-12-2007, 07:15 PM

ANDROID HELL!

Portal is my new favorite thing ever.

Better than Psychonauts, eh?

Slater

10-12-2007, 08:28 PM

Portal is tied for my favorite thing ever.

Y3k-Bug

10-12-2007, 10:03 PM

2Fort is the same as it's always been, from what I hear. It's a fun map, but it can be pretty monotonous.

Anyway, what's your Steam ID?

2fort is the same as its always been, which I think maybe the problem. Perhaps it needed to be updated to handle TF2's new class balance. The same way Valve is retooling the Hunted game mode before releasing it.

I'm not sure if SteamID is your ingame name or your Steam Community name, so its either Y3k-Bug or marioag.

Tom Magner

10-13-2007, 02:09 AM

Rob, Gist, and whoever else I played with: That was fun as all hell.

But my god: THE LAG

Owen

10-13-2007, 02:19 AM

Yeah, that was great except for those periods of mindblowingly horrific lag.

Eric Cordo

10-13-2007, 02:28 AM

Just got an update for this. Maybe that'll help the lag.

You were wrong... Oh so very wrong.

Rob

10-13-2007, 02:55 AM

Man when this game works, it fucking works awesomely. But that lag made it unplayable once again. But I'm definately down with playing some more this weekend, maybe see if get a batch of good luck and hopefully I'll be able to hold down "C" with some turrets and not have to worry about lagging myself to death. Great games tonight fellas!

mongycore

10-13-2007, 03:11 AM

anyone else getting any random end of game crashes in TF2? Played a few rounds the past day and usually when I've unlocked stuff for achievements (classes played, levels played, etc)...it kinda just dies while it's saving data to the hard drive while trying to bring me back to the lobby.

Timo

10-13-2007, 04:24 AM

We should see into getting a CHUD steam community going also, if there isn't already one.
http://chud.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104521

JuddL

10-13-2007, 06:16 AM

Is it just me or is Episode 2 fantastic?

Master Shake

10-13-2007, 06:18 AM

Haven't touched anything beyond Portal yet. But that was some gooooood touching.

Also, I want the end credits music for Portal. I want it LOTS.

Michael Shaver

10-13-2007, 06:31 AM

Also, I want the end credits music for Portal. I want it LOTS.

http://chud.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2094660#post2094660

Master Shake

10-13-2007, 06:37 AM

God, how did I miss that?

I hope the TF2 lag problem gets fixed soon, it's the only thing keeping me from outright buying Orange Box at this point.

Brad Millette

10-13-2007, 10:27 AM

I hope they fix the lag problems for you 360 users. It's a great game, and it'd be a shame for it to be ruined for you.

Owen

10-13-2007, 11:48 AM

Is it just me or is Episode 2 fantastic?

Oh yes, definitely. And I don't know how far you've gotten, but there are two fights that are extremely dynamic and unlike anything else in the series so far.

Beageal

10-13-2007, 12:23 PM

I need to play a bit of Half-Life 2 or Episode One again to check this, but do the Vortigaunts sound different in Ep2? Less weird and raspy, more human. Could be that Valve thought their dialogue in Ep2 was too important to let it be misunderstood?

Owen

10-13-2007, 12:28 PM

Well, in HL2, they were voiced by Louis Gossett, Jr. In Ep2, they are voiced by Tony Todd. In any case, I don't think anyone really had a problem understanding what they said before.

Beageal

10-13-2007, 12:34 PM

That would certainly explain it. Any idea why they switched? And does Tony Todd do all the Vortigaunts, or do he & Gossett Jr. share the duties? (IMDB, most reliable source of information in the history of information, still lists Louis Gossett, Jr. for Episode Two.)

Owen

10-13-2007, 12:49 PM

I never heard Gossett's voice during Ep2, so I fgure it's all Todd. IMDB says Gossett has a whole lot of shit going on right now, so it was probably a scheduling conflict.

Slater

10-13-2007, 01:56 PM

IMDB says Gossett has a whole lot of shit going on right now

I sincerely doubt that.

I still can't drag myself away from Portal long enough to try the other games. The six Advanced levels after you beat the game are fiendish.

I know I'm usually the first person to start bitching about microtranactions, but hey Valve? I'll pay whatever you want for a Portal expansion pack. So please make that for me now. K thx bye.

Owen

10-13-2007, 02:10 PM

I sincerely doubt that.

Well, it's not like it's anything I've heard of, but he is keeping busy. From IMDB:

The Real Catch (2008) (announced) .... Police Chief
Buttermilk Sky (2008) (pre-production) .... Judge Stanton
Corners (2008) (pre-production) .... Pastor Sundry
The Perfect Game (2008) (post-production) .... Cool Papa Bell
The B.A.M.N. Squad (2008) (post-production)
Delgo (2007) (post-production) (voice) .... Zahn
Cover (2007) (completed) .... Detective Hicks

I still can't drag myself away from Portal long enough to try the other games. The six Advanced levels after you beat the game are fiendish.

Yes they are. I think I spent more time finishing those than I did on the entire normal game mode.

Gist

10-13-2007, 04:17 PM

Rob, Gist, and whoever else I played with: That was fun as all hell.

But my god: THE LAG

For serious, that was a blast. TF2 blows the tits off of Halo 3's multiplayer. If only TF2 had Halo 3's stability...

Additionally, THE PAIN TRAIN IS HERE THE TRAIN OH GOD WHY

Eric Cordo

10-13-2007, 05:38 PM

I still can't drag myself away from Portal long enough to try the other games. The six Advanced levels after you beat the game are fiendish.

Wait, what? I didn't even notice this. Gotta go check it out now.

Slater

10-13-2007, 06:16 PM

Spike Marshall

10-13-2007, 06:19 PM

As someone who's only played snippets of Half Life am I going to find Half Life 2 incomprehensible, or does it summarise the plot at the start?

Owen

10-13-2007, 06:22 PM

For some stupid reason, the autosave feature doesn't save your progress on the Advanced levels. I beat the first four last night and the last two this morning...and now the game says I've only completed two of them. Hence no Achievement.

So I guess you've got to start a new level and save the game if you want it to track your progress.

Doesn't even do that. I finished five of them completely and half of the last one, and I saved and left and then came back and finished it, and it said I had only done one of them.

Tom Magner

10-13-2007, 06:22 PM

Additionally, THE PAIN TRAIN IS HERE THE TRAIN OH GOD WHY

"What's that dinging sound?" *KA-WHAM*

Owen

10-13-2007, 06:23 PM

As someone who's only played snippets of Half Life am I going to find Half Life 2 incomprehensible, or does it summarise the plot at the start?

It doesn't matter. All you need to know is that at the end of the game, that guy in the blue suit that popped up periodically offered you a job and then put you in stasis.

LlamaRama

10-13-2007, 11:56 PM

As someone who's only played snippets of Half Life am I going to find Half Life 2 incomprehensible, or does it summarise the plot at the start?
A nice chunk of what makes HL2 so awesome is that you only have the vaguest understanding of the insane stuff going on around you at any time, so no, you're fine.

Nexus-7

10-14-2007, 01:11 AM

How frequent(and long) are the 360 HL2 load times when compared to the Xbox version?

*Edit- Same question goes for the other games.

Eric Cordo

10-14-2007, 01:23 AM

The HL2 load times are just as intrusive as the Xbox version. With Portal it loads at the end of every stage, and TF2 has no load issues once you're in a game.

Nexus-7

10-14-2007, 01:29 AM

The HL2 load times are just as intrusive as the Xbox version. With Portal it loads at the end of every stage, and TF2 has no load issues once you're in a game.Damn Microsoft for not making the hard drive mandatory!
Thanks for the answer. I assume Episode 1 and 2 are the same way as HL2?

Owen

10-14-2007, 03:27 AM

Random HL loads have been a standard of the series since the first game on the PC. It has nothing to do with the presence of or lack of a hard drive.

Anyway, a more specific answer to your question is that the loads times aren't exactly infrequent, but not too frequent either. It seems to load at the same places the PC version did, and I imagine the Xbox was the same way. The load times aren't long, though, about five seconds at the most.

Nexus-7

10-14-2007, 03:35 AM

Nexus-7

10-14-2007, 03:37 AM

Fuck, double post.

Owen

10-14-2007, 04:40 AM

Oh okay, I was just reading the IGN review which had me scared about the load times. I remember reading when the Xbox version came out that the load times were more frequent/far longer than the PC version(which I've never played). For the most part, they were tolerable. But a few, such as the apartment building raid in the beginning, totally ruined the flow of the game for me.

I figured with a mandatory hard drive mixed with the 360 hardware they'd be able to cache shit like that a lot better. Similar to how maps in Halo 3 have to load each time as opposed to Halo 2's maps being "in there" and ready to go after a bit of gaming.

That IGN review had me nervous as well, but after actually playing it, I have to wonder what the hell that chick was talking about with the load times and the graphical quality. I don't know how she thought that was Xbox quality, or how the load times in this were 30 seconds long, but something wasn't right there.

And I imagine they could cache the levels better, but in this particular case, it just loads like that because that's how Valve does it. It's not a Source engine thing, though, because those mid-level loads would also accur in the original Half-Life.

And I guess I should make it clear that the loads never occur while things are going on, which is what you seem to be worried about. They always pop up in quiet moments.

Beageal

10-14-2007, 08:42 AM

I had to pause mid-level 19 on PORTAL last night to work and sleep. But I'm curious, is there any use for the login/password combo that's 'hidden' in experiment 17 or so?
You can use it at aperturescience.com to get a history of the company. It's pretty funny.
You also get to take the subject application test, which I just did and it's hilarious. (Though I didn't jot down that insane UIN(+L); anyone know what happens if you are able to type it in again at the end?)

Gist

10-14-2007, 12:26 PM

That IGN review had me nervous as well, but after actually playing it, I have to wonder what the hell that chick was talking about with the load times and the graphical quality. I don't know how she thought that was Xbox quality, or how the load times in this were 30 seconds long, but something wasn't right there.

Seriously, what the hell, right? The game looks great.

Eric Cordo

10-14-2007, 01:00 PM

Honestly the load times are annoying to me. It feels as though every time I get into the flow of the game, it pauses for twenty seconds.

Owen

10-14-2007, 01:21 PM

Does it really take that long for you? It's been 10 seconds, at the most, for me, and usually less.

Slater

10-14-2007, 01:26 PM

Anthony Sollecito

10-14-2007, 02:04 PM

The Orange Box is now possibly my favorite thing ever.

Portal is the best Tim Schafer game not made by the man himself. HL2 held up so well. Episode 2 made me forget the mini-train wreck that was Episode 1. TF2 is the most fun I've had playing online since TFC and Counter-Strike in 2001.

<3 Valve.

Brad Millette

10-14-2007, 02:32 PM

TF2 has become all but unplayable on the PC now, because of all the utter drooling retards that have joined up. Simple concepts such as "Once enemy is at bay, increase offense to capture point" are absolutely foreign to these troglodytes. I'm giving them a week to shape up before I start burning the lot of them.

Russ Fischer

10-14-2007, 04:56 PM

I'm amazed by how well Half-Life 2 still holds up. i.e. how it's not only better than Halo 2's campaign, but now better than Halo 3 as well. Just a flawless game.

And the jump in quality from the Xbox version is stunning. No complaints about the graphics here. The character modeling and animation is still unrivaled.

I was thinking this today as I was playing obsessively. Pick up any other 3-year old game and you'll feel the years; not this one. The only shooter in the same league is BioShock. Halo isn't even a distant third. It's so immersive, varied and supremely polished. The whole airboat sequence is still beautiful.

With respect to the graphics and character models, is it just me, or in the menu screen art and a few other places, has Gordon Freeman been made to look just a little bit more like the G-Man?

Eric Cordo

10-14-2007, 07:51 PM

Does it really take that long for you? It's been 10 seconds, at the most, for me, and usually less.

The load times last for about 15 to 20 seconds for me, with the first 90% going by quickly, and then it slows down tremendously.

Owen

10-14-2007, 08:42 PM

That's odd.

DJ HiPPiE

10-14-2007, 09:34 PM

Well I finally picked it up last night.....And played it all night.

Portal....HOLY SHIT....This game is some serious greatness....For years I've asked....Begged that someone take the concept of the FPS and do something different with it....Most fun i've had with a game this year....Give us a level editor and ability to put levels on XBL for other people to try and get thru and i'll be happy.

The "fall 30,000 feet" achievement was the most fucked up shit i've seen without having to take acid.

Half-Life2....Played it for about 10 minutes and moved on....Just never got into it.

Team Fortress 2....When it's good it's great....When it's bad it's lagtastic....The look is perfect....The gameplay is perfect....I love the Pyro....Hate the spy with a passion(using it or fighting it)....And love how me and my buddy got constant combo kills with our dual sentry guns guarding our briefcase.

TF2 is the only game that will challenge Halo 3.....That is until GOW2 comes out.

Owen

10-14-2007, 09:44 PM

Half-Life2....Played it for about 10 minutes and moved on....Just never got into it.

This means that you're a bad person.

DJ HiPPiE

10-14-2007, 09:47 PM

This means that you're a bad person.

I kick kittens as well.

Tieman

10-14-2007, 09:54 PM

One question for those with the 360 version: does your game crash at times? Sometimes mine just up and freezes, and I have to turn off my 360. There are no visible scratches on my disc, and my 360 doesn't do it to any of my other games. Maybe the game is a bit glitched? A developer new to the 360 putting five unique games on one disc seems like a recipe for a glitch here and there, so I was just wondering.
Mine is doing the same thing. I went through Portal from start to finish (WOW that was a lot of fun) without it ever happening once, but it happens at least once every time I play Half Life 2. I was worried my 360 was getting ready to croak, but now I know that at least I'm not the only one. Hopefully there will be a patch to fix it.

flyarz

10-14-2007, 10:22 PM

I have crashed a lot as well.

Owen

10-14-2007, 11:36 PM

No crashing here.

Master Shake

10-15-2007, 12:23 AM

Simple concepts such as "Once enemy is at bay, increase offense to capture point" are absolutely foreign to these troglodytes.

Wow. Guess it's only a matter of time before TF2 on Live becomes a retard farm as well.

TF2 is the only game that will challenge Halo 3.....That is until GOW2 comes out.

Call Of Duty 4 is going to steal the shit out of TF2's audience. Regardless of quality, COD4 is going to take loads of players from both Halo 3 and TF2 merely because it's COD4. What I'm praying is that COD4 doesn't completely depopulate TF2 and instead steals the mouth-breathers so I can still get some team-based gaming action in.

Timo

10-15-2007, 07:33 AM

Apparently throwing an explosive canister of gasoline into a cloud of gas doesn't ignite it, but punching a zombie in the face with a crowbar does. Other glitch I had recently was in TF2 when suddenly I was able to see through all doors and all other players were invisible. This lasted for about a minute until the game crashed.

Brad Millette

10-15-2007, 08:12 AM

Listen up, you drooling half-monkeys! THE DISPENSER IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR A MEDIC.

Ari!

10-15-2007, 09:50 AM

I had fun Friday night, too bad the lag was ass. And right when things begin to go smoothly, my power goes out. Freakin wonderful. TF2 well be pure greatness if that lag ever gets fixed...and if I stop sucking so badly.

Rob

10-15-2007, 10:36 AM

Yah, that sucked about your power Ari. But rolling through as the pyros was fun while it lasted. I'm hoping to be able to play sometime tonight if we can get some people playing. Played a bit yesterday and didn't have any lag at all. I bet it's just having all of the chud guys playing that fuck up the servers because of our awesomness.

Ari!

10-15-2007, 10:40 AM

No server can handle the awesome power of our awesome awesomeness!!!

On a side note, I went to a birthday party over the weekend, and the birthday girl had a unicorn balloon. I just can't seem to get away from the damn pink team!

Rob

10-15-2007, 10:41 AM

I have agents everywhere....

Slater

10-15-2007, 12:18 PM

Listen up, you drooling half-monkeys! THE DISPENSER IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR A MEDIC.

What's the Dispenser?

I tried this game last night and felt totally lost. I wasted two lives as a Medic shooting my teammates with that Needle Gun before I figured out my other gun was the health-charger. And we lost every match because my three teammates only wanted to play as Snipers.

Is there any way to tell whether someone is a teammate or an enemy Spy? What should I be looking for?

Brad Millette

10-15-2007, 12:23 PM

Slater

10-15-2007, 12:35 PM

Got it. Thanks.

Another noob question: if I spawn as a Medic and find that all of my teammates are Snipers and Spies, is it better to try to keep them alive or just respawn as a different class? i.e. does your team ALWAYS need a Medic on the field?

Brad Millette

10-15-2007, 12:38 PM

If all your teammates are snipers or spies, find another game.

And no, you don't ALWAYS need a medic. If you're on offense you do, because your main damage dealers will need support, and those ubers are sometimes necessary for getting through a tough choke point. Defense can go either way. The good thing about it is that you can switch classes more or less on the fly, though you'll have to wait to respawn if you change. The most important thing is just organizing with your teammates.

Overlord

10-15-2007, 12:48 PM

The most important thing is just organizing with your teammates.

Which makes me fear that the Team Fortress 2 experience may be a mixed bag ... and by mixed bag, I mean frustrating as hell to play with the general community on
Xbox Live.

DJ HiPPiE

10-15-2007, 12:54 PM

Shoot them. If they bleed, kill it.

Generally, keep an eye out for guys on your team looking out of place. Like if you see a Pyro for some reason running towards a sentry gun, it's probably worth doing a spy check.

The Dispenser, by the way, is an Engineer building. It's very useful, as it heals and rearms people next to it. However, it's immobile, slow, and an Engineer can only have one at a time.

And yet people think that if there's one out, they don't need a Medic on the team.

As for the learning curve, keep at it. You pick things up really quickly.

Yeah the Dispenser is ok but it really only good for a quick fix.

And the spy is a major pain in the ass....It's bad enough for him to go invisible and stab you in the back for one kill....But then to watch him be able to walk into a room and take out 3 sentry guns with no problem is messed up big time.

We're pretty good about dealing with spies....If it's CTF we make sure that everyone on our team announces when they are walking into the room with the briefcase....Otherwise whatever walks in gets jumped on.

Medics are important depending on the gametype....In control I usually run a heavy with two medics charging me....I roll up front with everyone on my team behind me....Once they've unloaded on me my teammates usually can deal with them.

Most fucked up shit i've seen yet.....placing a sentry guy in front of a spawn point.....Yeah that's gonna keep people coming back.

Gist

10-15-2007, 01:03 PM

I'm hoping to be able to play sometime tonight if we can get some people playing..

Two words come to mind, and they are "Fuck" and "Yes." Not even necessarily in that order, mind you!

Brad Millette

10-15-2007, 01:07 PM

And the spy is a major pain in the ass....It's bad enough for him to go invisible and stab you in the back for one kill....But then to watch him be able to walk into a room and take out 3 sentry guns with no problem is messed up big time.

If this is happening, your team is failing. Get a pyro on spy detail STAT.

Pyros are the anti-spy.

DJ HiPPiE

10-15-2007, 02:20 PM

If this is happening, your team is failing. Get a pyro on spy detail STAT.

Pyros are the anti-spy.

Oh I figured that shit out real quick.....There is a reason why I get more kills with a Pyro than anything else.....Still think the spy is a little overpowered....I've seen spies take out sentry guns way with way too much ease.

Right now the only classes I haven't played yet is the Medic and Sniper.....might try them tonight....Of course that's after I finally get past Testchamber 18 in portal.

Brad Millette

10-15-2007, 02:28 PM

You've either seen some really good spies, or been dealing with some really shit engineers.

Russ Fischer

10-15-2007, 02:30 PM

Half-Life2....Played it for about 10 minutes and moved on....Just never got into it.

Did you turn off RAIDERS or THE SEVEN SAMURAI after the first ten minutes, too?

When you're talking about a game that (including EP1 & 2) is worth about 30 hours of entertainment, giving it more than ten minutes seems like basic courtesy. You'll be rewarded.

Slater

10-15-2007, 02:33 PM

Especially since you don't even get a weapon in HL2 until about the 15-minute mark. So you're deciding you don't like a shooter before you shoot anything...?

Maybe that's his problem. "What's this story doing in my video game? Hey, fuck you, plot!"

Brad Millette

10-15-2007, 02:35 PM

Man, I still hate how you get a weapon in HL2.

Barney: "HEY I THINK YOU DROPPED THIS!"

Me: "Oh, gee, thanks. It's a crowbar. You know what would be even more helpful? A GUN. LIKE THE ONE YOU'RE FUCKING CARRYING RIGHT NOW, YOU GIANT HEAP OF CUNT."

Russ Fischer

10-15-2007, 02:37 PM

All is made well with the gravity gun and sawblade combo, though. Utterly fucking ridiculous as it is...

Will eventually have to try for the Play Ravenholm With Only The Grav Gun achievement.

DJ HiPPiE

10-15-2007, 02:38 PM

Did you turn off RAIDERS or THE SEVEN SAMURAI after the first ten minutes, too?

When you're talking about a game that (including EP1 & 2) is worth about 30 hours of entertainment, giving it more than ten minutes seems like basic courtesy. You'll be rewarded.

Oh i'm sure it's a great story(played HL1) but for some reason Half-Life just never did it for me....I would say for every hour I put into Half-Life 1 I put about 10 hours into TF.

I'll eventually get thru EP1 and 2 but for right now i'm just having too much fun with TF2 and Portal to really give Half-Life any real attention.

And Brad....I saw a spy take out three fully armed sentry guns....You would think that once the spy took out the first gun that would blow his cover and the other two guns would take him out.....Nope he just walked over and took out the others with no problem....The only solution was as you put it.....Bring a pyro to the party.

Brad Millette

10-15-2007, 02:41 PM

DJ HiPPiE

10-15-2007, 02:48 PM

It doesn't blow his cover, which is why you need to PROTECT YOUR SENTRY GUN AGAINST SPIES.

Hell, a halfway decent engineer could stop that from happening because a spy can't sap when cloaked. So guess what, if it's you and another guy there, and your sentry is getting sapped? GUESS WHAT HE'S THE SPY SHOOT HIM IN THE FACE.

I know it doesn't blow his cover....I finally got the engineers to stay near their guns which helps somewhat....Until you get overrun with spies which happened a few times.

Hell now I shoot a spy the second I see it.....Even if it's one of my own....Just to be sure.

Brad Millette

10-15-2007, 02:55 PM

So your engineers were just running around? Let me guess, they were trying to kill people with their shotguns, weren't they.

Brad Millette

10-15-2007, 02:55 PM

Also, the reason people are giving you shit for getting bored with Half-Life 2 is because it's like the best game ever.

DJ HiPPiE

10-15-2007, 03:10 PM

Also, the reason people are giving you shit for getting bored with Half-Life 2 is because it's like the best game ever.

It's not that i'm bored with HL2....I'm just burned out with FPS' in general....Portal hooked me due to being something different.....TF2 hooked me cause Team Fortress was and always will be my favorite FPS.

I'm not saying that Half-Life sucks.....I'm just saying that right now I have so many other things to play.....Shit i'm working so much right now I haven't played Halo3 in almost 2 weeks and I still haven't even finished Bioshock.

I swear to God if this club doesn't get it's shit together soon and give me some time off i'm gonna start bringing my 360 to work with me.

As for the engineers.....Yeah they would chase whoever tried to grab the package which would allow the spy to show up and fuck everything up.....Took me about 10 minutes to get the rest of the team to figure that shit out.